All content, of both the original Brookfield7.com and this blog, is written from my point of view and is my opinion. I believe it to be accurate at the time it is written. ~ Kyle Prast, Brookfield resident since 1986

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Mystery money heads to the library

No one has stepped forward to claim the $200 anonymous donation to the Kilkenny campaign, so The Friends of the Library will be the recipient of $190 from that contribution. Kilkenny received 10 twenty dollar bills (in an envelope in her mailbox) on Friday, March 3rd. Many theories have been tossed around concerning the origins of the anonymous $200 donation to the Kilkenny campaign.

I have my own theory; I think it was from someone who did not think they could afford to be seen as a contributor to the Kilkenny campaign. Donor names appear on the campaign finance statements. People who work for companies that do work for the city might be reluctant to publicly support Kilkenny's candidacy. While they support Kilkenny and say they will vote for her on April 4th, they do not feel they can make public statements.

Thankfully, the great thing about America is that no one knows how you vote when you are in the voting booth! The rules concerning campaign contributions are not as well known as you may think. I believe that once money is received, it must be deposited into the campaign account. I am sure whoever gave it thought they were doing a service to the campaign, and certainly it would have helped, but the donor must not have wanted to come forward to claim it publicly. (After all, it was given anonymously in the first place.)

The rule is: anonymous donations are limited to $10. That does not stop someone from sending in multiple $10 donations, but they each need to be sent separately. Why, a child could send one in! As long as it is separately given it is legal.

These laws might seem burdensome, but they are in place to protect the public. Don't you want to know that CBL (the mall owners) have contributed $1,500 and VK Corp. members contributed $750 to Speaker?